2011 state safety report cards, Ontario MSD crackdown, EPA mercury rules and more on EHS This Week

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Paul Leavoy

Check out the most recent podcast of EHS This Week.

This week, Kristy Sadler and I discuss top stories from the world of environment, health and safety news, including:

The Work Loss Data Institute’s 2011 State Report Cards on safety performance. See a map with each state’s grade here.
The Province of Ontario’s plan to crack down on musculoskeletal disorders.
New EPA rules on mercury, and more.

Check back on a weekly basis for our rundown of the week’s top EHS Stories.

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The Top 5 upcoming OHS regulatory events you need to know about: #4

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Paul Leavoy

It can be hard for businesses to determine which regulatory events will directly affect how they do business. That’s why I’ve put together a list of the Top 5 OHS regulatory events on the immediate horizon business leaders as well as OHS managers and staff need to know about.

Yesterday we talked about a forthcoming crystalline silica rule. Here’s the next issue in our Top 5:

4. Proposed rule to add MSD to OSHA injury reporting forms:

While OSHA has been back and forth on whether it will re-introduce a musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) column on Form 300 (and 300A) logs, which hundreds of thousands of organizations across the U.S. are required to complete, the issue is front and centre once again.

If this rule goes ahead, businesses will be required to record employee MSDs on monthly and yearly Form 300 logs.

After complaints from many stakeholders, OSHA had extended the deadline for public comments on the proposed rule, but that deadline passed on June 16. The administration has not provided a date on when a final rule will be issued, but expects a decision in the next couple of months.

Come back tomorrow for the third most important upcoming OHS regulatory event you need to know about.

OSHA reopens MSD column debate for public comment

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Paul Leavoy

Here one minute, gone the next. Now it’s back again. The controversial musculoskeletal disorder (MSDs) column is once again on the table as the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) considers making it a mandatory component of OSHA 300 logs.

If the MSD column is restored, businesses would be required to record details on all work-related MSDs, injuries that tend to develop over time and affect joints, tendons, ligaments, nerves and muscles.

The MSD column used to be a mainstay of the OSHA 300 log, until it was removed in 2003 (though then-OSHA head John Henshaw maintained employers still needed to lump MSDs in with the “injury” or “all other illness” categories). The administration signaled earlier this year it would restore the column to the log, before withdrawing it and indicating it would reach out to small businesses first.

Well, that time is now. Beginning today, OSHA is reopening the public record on the matter and inviting the public – namely small employers – to provide feedback on this proposed revision to the Occupational Injury and Illness Reporting Requirements regulation. The notice has been posted in the Federal Register and the public is invited to submit comments until June 16, 2011.

“OSHA is eager to hear from the public on this, and every, proposed rule,” David Michaels, OSHA’s Assistant Secretary of Labor noted in a release. “The more feedback the agency receives from small businesses on this topic, the better informed we will be in crafting a proposed regulation that protects workers without overburdening employers.”

Opponents of the column complain that it unfairly burdens small business with intensive reporting requirements. Currently employers determine whether a case is “recordable” and meets the definition of “injury and illness” as defined by OSHA regulations. The proposed rule would define MSDs as “disorders of the muscles, nerves, tendons, ligaments, joints, cartilage or spinal discs that was not caused by a slip, trip, fall, motor vehicle accident or similar accident.”

According to OSHA, more than 1.5 million recordable MSDs occur annually among 1.5 million affected establishments, and that the costs of the new rule would total $1.7 million across all affected establishments.

Interested individuals are invited to comment on the small business teleconferences OSHA held April 11 and 12. A Summary of the comments are contained in the public docket here. Read the complete notice here.

OSHA offers teleconferences to small business on proposed changes to 300 Log

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Paul Leavoy

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) is looking for your feedback on plans to alter the 300 Log, a form containing details on workplace injuries and illnesses that must be completed by most U.S. businesses on a regular basis.

OSHA wants to restore a column to the log that would require employers to enter details on work-related muscoskeletal disorders (MSD).

Some opponents of the proposal to restore the column have complained that it is actually an attempt to revive an ergonomics standard that was repealed a decade ago. Before then, OSHA’s injury and illness log contained one column that lumped MSDs together with hearing. OSHA had planned on separating the two into separate columns, but the MSD column was removed altogether by 2003. Opponents also claim the new column might place an unnecessary burden on small businesses.

OSHA head Dr. David Michaels has insisted most small businesses won’t need to update the log, and only employers already mandated to maintain injury and illness records would need to track work-related MSDs in the 300 Log. To clear up any confusion, and to help small businesses better understand the proposal, OSHA is offering three teleconferences on the MSD proposal. The teleconferences are slated for:

Monday, April 11 at 1:30 p.m. EDT.
Tuesday, April 12 at 9 a.m. EDT.
Tuesday, April 12 at 1:30 p.m. EDT.

In addition to providing information on the proposed change, OSHA wants participants to discuss their experience in recording work-related MSDs and how they believe the proposed rule would affect them. Take a look at the proposed MSD resordkeeping rule here.

Contact Regina Powers by April 4 if you or someone from your organization would like to participate, and stay tuned to the Intelex blog for more information on OSHA’s plans for the 300 Log, as well as tips on how to make the often onerous 300 Log generation process effortless.